Artfully Insane
by Daitoshi
Summary: Harry Potter is not a normal child. He never really was.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter. Too bad, really. I would have fixed the last book to not include a real ending.

Author's Note: As readers may have guessed, I am terrible at updating, and usually abandon my stories if I find they no longer interest me, or as is more likely, I forget what I was doing, and cant remember the intended plot for the life of me. I am the opposite of orginized, you see, and I never write anything down.

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**Artfully Insane**

_The Darkness is warm._

_Much warmer than the woman who feeds me._

_Much warmer than the eyes of the woman who teaches me._

_Blazing hot compared to the words of disdain that the man throws at me._

_It is warmer than my blanket_

_Warmer than the carpet under my feet_

_Far warmer than the metal doorknob turning under my small palms_

_It envelops me as I leave the chilly house_

_I enjoy the sensation as darkness surrounds me,_

_ignoring the gentle snowfall brushing my cheeks and hair_

_My hair is like Darkness!~ Isn't that so nice._

_I pad slowly toward the forest, where the darkness is warmest._

_Away from the street lights_

_Away from the houses_

_Away from the cold people._

_It calls to me._

Mrs Figg could not help but wake up that night, staring at her ceiling for a long while, wondering what was amiss. Her blankets were warm, and the lights were all off. She remembered feeding all her children last evening, and did her groceries just a few days ago. The aging woman looked around, watching as her cats sat stiffly by the windows.

That got her attention. Normally they laid about at night, perhaps wandering about the house or sleeping next to her. But this night, they sat upright, tails stiff and hackles raised. Every one of them stared as something moved outside the window, each of them moving their heads in sync to watch whatever it was.

Mrs Figg slowly pushed her covers back, stepping slowly out of bed, only the pale moonlight outside lighting her way. Pushing her feet into some worn-down slippers to ward off the winter chill, she crept behind her cats to look outside.

At first she saw nothing but shadows outside. As her eyes adjusted, however, they widened in surprise and horror. Across the street, she watched as the young potter boy walked languidly across the snow-covered street, his seven-year-old form slowly being covered in snow. He also walked with his head high, focused on one thing as he walked.

Never mind how he walked! It was the dead of night, and the boy was waltzing about with nothing on but his nightclothes! She bustled about, ignoring her cats strange actions for the moment in favor of going to usher the boy back inside. Pulling on an old coat, she stepped out into the snow, wincing as bits of it reminded her that she was still only wearing slippers. With wet feet and fogged breath, she hop-walked down the sidewalk towards the young Harry Potter, determined to get him inside, trying her best to ignore the uncomfortable prickling of the hairs on the back of her neck. Trying desperately to ignore the way he had not stopped, even after she called out to him.

When she got close enough, she reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

She should have stayed in bed.

_It whispered beautiful words in my head_

_It caressed my arms and face and made me comfortable in this dreary weather._

_It tugged at my clothes, urging me to hurry_

_I, however, was under the idea that just being in the presence of Darkness was enough_

_I walked slowly, always keeping my eyes on the center of where I knew the darkness to reside._

_Always going toward the forest._

_I heard the crunching of snow, and the Darkness told me that it was the cat lady who took care of me sometimes._

_She was warmer than the woman who fed me._

_But she was still cold._

_I did not want her._

_I felt Darkness getting antsy as she got closer._

_Felt it starting to rise up out of its bed, warning and protecting me._

_I trudged through a snow bank, breathing in the crisp air that Darkness inhibited._

_And jerked in surprise as a cold hand touched my shoulder._

_I let out a small cry, much like that of a startled bird, and fell back into the snow like a puppet suddenly cut of its strings._

_The cat woman looked on in horror as her own, as well as the my shadow started to move unnaturally, twisting out of mimicry and rising up to attack her._

_How dare she touch me!_

_I soon got to my feet, smiling softly as I continued his journey to the forest_

_The cat lady would not bother me again tonight_

That year, winter took a very harsh toll on the Surrey area, blanketing it in thick snow that seemed to build up more, every time a warm front passed.

Snow covered the woman's body, leaving her hidden until the following spring, when the falling frost finally took its leave.

The authorities came, and proclaimed her dead of a broken neck, and exposure. Her spine had been snapped, after all, and with her laying face-down in the snow like that, one could only assume such proclamations to be true.

Vernon and Petunia Dursley never mentioned that their nephew had also disappeared, not particularly caring about his fate. They told his teachers that they decided to home-school him, and went on with their lives.

No living soul saw that night, as the boy finally reached his destination. No one saw as the shadows whirled around him, cascading and twisting like some living river of darkness. No one saw as his face lit up with joy as the darkness enveloped him completely, imploding into his small frame and taking him away. No one but his relatives knew Harry Potter had gone missing.

Well, Aside from Arabella Figg, but she was in no real place to talk. The cemetery does not give one any real audience, you see.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer- I do not own Severus Snape either. A shame, really. I would have enjoyed making him to various 'things'

Author's Note: It is currently 2 at sunday morning. I should get to bed. Been listening to Muse. Good band, that.

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Chapter 2

Severus Snape was a firm believer in shades of grey. How could he not, when he served both the leaders of Light and Darkness, acting as a double agent for both sides. Deciding long ago that his only real alliance was to himself, the potions master went about life on a firm 'walk the middle' basis, and was quite content with his position. Now, if he could remove himself from the supposed alliance from both Light and Darkness altogether, he would. Unfortunately, he knew that removing him from one would immediately garner the attention of the other's leader, and thus he would be unwillingly pulled under complete control. Some days he really did wonder if he should do just that, and spent many long hours wondering which one he would benefit more from abandoning.

He gathered up his equipment for the evening, depositing several rare herbs into their vials and compartments in the small case he carried. The small knife went onto his belt, cleaned completely of the Moon flower nectar that had leaked on it as he gathered. Standing upright, he surveyed his surroundings, gazing warily around the trees in the forbidden forest. Here was the only place he could get many of the more expensive ingredients for his potions, and gathered them thus so, despite the dangers of the forest.

Something shifted in the corner of his eye. Something not quite right. He stared at the spot for a moment, suspicious when nothing else moved. He listened carefully, noting the continued chirping of bats and other night creatures in the distance. Severus drew his wand, shifting his ingredients case to his other hand, and walked back towards the castle, keeping his ears alert for sounds.

A rustle to his left, and he whirled around, a spell on the tip of his tongue. But there was nothing. Narrowing obsidian eyes at the shadows that remained still and innocent from malicious beasts, he edged back toward the castle, eyes darting cautiously around.

He nearly leapt out of his skin when he felt something grab on to his leg, and lashed out at it, firing a quick cutting spell in the direction of whatever creature had attacked him, accidentally dropping his case as well. The flash of orange lit up the area for a split second, allowing him to see a small, deathly pale child grinning up at him, arms outstretched even as the curse split across his cheek, slicing it open.

Eyes wide, he breathlessly lit his wand, holding it high above him, eying the way the shadows not only shrank back from the wand light, but seemed to squirm on the outskirts as well. Like a living entity. The child had disappeared, but his case had as well.

Heart hammering, but expression sour, he whipped around and treaded determinedly toward the castle, raising his lit want above his head like a beacon. As he cleared the tree line, He felt, rather than heard, a disturbance just behind him. On the thick lawn of Hogwarts School grounds he stood, holding a light aloft, peering into the Forbidden Forest. He watched carefully as the deathly pale face of a child flitted between the trees, giggling softly and making small mewling sounds. His scowl deepened when emerald eyes locked with his own obsidian, their color doing nothing to mask the wild excitement within them, a fanged grin stretched below the long bleeding gash on the boy's cheek.

Severus turned back toward the castle, wand firmly in hand, deciding he would go back to find the case of ingredients in the morning.

He may be brave enough to venture into the forest at night, but none beside the most foolish would tempt fate by returning after a predator had spotted him. He was anything but foolish, and the boy simply oozed the 'predator' look. Besides, he needed to go to sleep anyway.

The green-eyed boy continued to sit at the edge of the forest, smiling and chirping as he ran his fingers along the wooden box, laughing as the darkness etched faint designs into the wood that his nails ghosted over. He leaned close to it, sniffing the wood. It smelled greatly of Oak, but the interesting smell of the black-clad man still clung to it. It smelled really good.

Thinking nothing of it, he nipped the edge of the box, moaning softly when his teeth were stopped by the wood.

His interest in the thing was through, and he discarded it in the leaves beside him, ignoring the clatter as it fell atop some branches. Other smells permeated the forest, after all, and tonight was a good time to hunt.


End file.
